


Split

by Baykit



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Kidnapping, Magic, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:02:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26914081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baykit/pseuds/Baykit
Summary: What happens when a magic spell forces Four to split?
Comments: 18
Kudos: 188





	1. Chapter 1

Wind wove between the legs of the enemy hoard, slashing and spinning as he went. Of course, they hadn’t even had a chance to identify whose Hyrule they were in before they were attacked. The hoard was mainly made of bokoblins but there were some electric lizalfos mixed in from Wild’s Hyrule that were giving them some trouble. At least only a few had been infected by the black blood so far. To his left Wind caught sight of a flash of blonde that was also ducking and weaving through the hoard. Wind smiled to himself. It looked like Four was using the same strategy as him.

Then, Wind caught sight of something just out of the corner of his eye. Something floating above the battlefield. Wind risked a glance upward and his heart sank. A Wizzrobe… no, a Poe was hovering above the battlefield. And it looked like it was charging up a spell.

“Everyone! Look out! Above you!” Wind screamed.

The spell streaked downward and an eruption of golden light crashed through the battlefield. Wind found the air knocked out of his lungs as a small figure collided with him and they were both sent sprawling. Dazed and his ears ringing from the blast Wind pushed himself onto his knees and looked around and was surprised to see the rest of the monsters fleeing from the battlefield. Had the blast really been powerful enough to scare them away? Wind turned as he a soft groan from his left to see Four’s unconscious form on the ground. He must have gotten hit by the blast; Wind reasoned as he shakily rose to his feet.

A menacing cackle drew Wind’s eyes skyward and his heart lurched again at what he saw. The Poe was back and behind it were three black clouds, each with small, hylian sized shadows contained within. As the Poe cackled a fourth cloud began forming in front of it and began drifting down towards Four.

“No!” Wind yelled as he stumbled forward, his shield at the ready.

But what could he do? Could you attack a spell? Could he blow it away with the Wind Waker? Wind’s thoughts were interrupted as the Poe screeched in pain. Wind turned to see Wild and Twilight racing towards him. Wild had his bow out and was taking aim at the Poe once more. Twilight rushed forwards and scooped Four’s unconscious form into his arms. The Poe squirmed in the air, seemingly frustrated that it no longer had a clear shot at its target, before screaming again as it was hit with a blast of fire. Wind turned again to see Legend and Hyrule racing towards them, the fire coming from Legend’s fire rod. The Poe only hesitated a moment longer before giving a scream of frustration and streaking off towards the forest, the three clouds trailing behind it.

“Is everyone alright?” Hyrule asked.

“Not sure, the Smithy is out cold,” Twilight said.

“No, we’re not!” Wind yelled, “The Poe! It…it took…!”

“Hey!” Time yelled as he, Sky, and Warriors caught up to the group, “What did we miss? And what’s this I hear about the Poe?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight said, “Wind is saying that the Poe took someone but…it looks like we’re all here.”

Wind looked around frantically to see that Twilight was right. All nine of them of them were present. But then…who had he seen inside the Poe’s magic clouds?

“Hey, calm down Pirate. Tell us what you saw,” Warriors said.

“We, we were fighting. I caught sight of Four in the crowd for a second. Then I saw the Poe and it cast some sort of spell. There was an explosion and Four got thrown into me. Then the Poe was above us…it had these dark clouds behind it… and it looked like there were three people inside them. Then it started to make another cloud… and it tried to take Four… but then you all came and scared it off,” Wind explained, his voice still shaking.

“Did the rest of you see these clouds?” Time asked.

“Yeah, but I didn’t get a good enough look to see what was inside them. Did you see anything Pup?” Twilight asked, turning to Wild.

Wild only shook his head, his face puzzled.

“Wind, when you saw the Poe the first time were the clouds already there?” Time asked.

“I…I don’t know. I only saw it for a second before the spell went off,” Wind admitted.

“Then it’s possible the Poe had these prisoners before the battle even started,” Time sighed.

“We can’t just leave them!” Wind protested.

“And we won’t,” Sky said as he put a reassuring hand on Wind’s shoulder, “but we need to take stock of our own situation first before we go off to rescue them. Otherwise we could end up walking straight into a trap, right Time?”

“Right,” Time said, “Lets find a spot to rest. Hyrule, make sure you take a look at Four first. It sounds like he might have a concussion.”

As they headed towards the woods Wind watched as Hyrule jogged up to Twilight and then cocked his head in confusion.

“Something wrong?” Twilight asked.

“Hm? Oh, no. I was just wondering when Four changed tunics. I didn’t know he owned a red one,” Hyrule said.


	2. Chapter 2

Blue groaned as he regained consciousness. His head was killing him. He tried to rise only to immediately face plant into a row of bars as the floor beneath him swung violently. Frantically, he grabbed ahold of the cage bars and held on for dear life until the swinging finally stopped. Carefully, without releasing his hold on the bars, Blue took stock of his situation. He quickly realized he was in a cage. An insultingly small cage with barely enough room to stand and only just enough room to sit. The cage had been hung from a tree branch and was a dizzyingly long way from the ground. Below him was a large bonfire with a massive cooking pot on top of it. Surrounding the bonfire was a hoard of monsters. Probably every monster from the hoard that they hadn’t managed to kill, Blue reasoned.

“Blue,” a soft voice called from his left.

Blue turned to see another cage hanging to his left. Inside the cage was Vio sitting in the only way the cage would allow, with his knees pressed up against his chest.

“I’m glad you’re awake,” Vio said with a small smile.

“Yeah, same here,” Blue said, “Where are the others?”

“Green is in the cage next to me, but he hasn’t woken up yet,” Vio said.

“He hasn’t?” Blue said with a frown, “That’s weird. He’s usually the first one awake.”

“I…I can’t see him very well through the bars, but I think there’s blood on his forehead. He might have hit something when the spell forced us apart,” Vio said.

Blue gave a growl of frustration. This whole thing was going from bad to worse. Escaping would be a million times harder with one of them unconscious, but it didn’t sound like Green was going to be waking up anytime soon.

“What about Red?” Blue asked.

“I haven’t seen him. Are there any cages to your right?” Vio asked.

Blue quickly snuck a look to his right only to find it empty of anything but tree branches.

“No, nothing over here. Do you think he escaped?” Blue asked.

“Maybe. But it’s more likely the others rescued him,” Vio said, “which is good, but it also means they won’t realize the rest of us are in danger until Red wakes up and tells them.”

“Great, and he’s usually the last one awake,” Blue griped, “Hey you’ve been awake a while. Have you found a way out of these cages at least?”

“No, they don’t even have doors. I’m guessing the Poe created them with its magic,” Vio sighed.

Blue scanned his own cage and gave a growl when he found out that Vio was right. The cage was too perfect, there was no sign of any door or any sort of joints anywhere. Hesitantly, Blue peered over the edge of the cage to the forest floor below. It was a really long drop…but maybe it would be enough to…

“Don’t even think about it,” Vio said.

“Think about what?” Blue asked.

“About making your cage drop on purpose to try and break it open. I already tried it. All I got for my trouble was a bruised back and an angry shock from the Poe,” Vio said.

“Oh,” Blue grumbled.

Slowly, trying not to rock the cage too much, Blue lowered himself into the same scrunched up sitting position as Vio. Silently they watched the monsters prance around the cooking pot, possibly celebrating their capture.

“That pot is awfully big. Do you think they’re going to eat us?” Blue asked.

“I’m currently choosing to believe that its so big because there’s a lot of them,” Vio replied.

“And here I thought Red had all of our optimism,” Blue said.

Red moaned as he came to. The sky was a brilliant pink that was interrupted by dark tree branches. The ground beneath him was soft, he must be lying a bed roll. But something was wrong. His thoughts swirled around him like fog. Why was it so…

“…quiet?” Red murmured.

“Four!” Wind said as his blonde head appeared in Red’s line of sight.

Red startled backwards and Wind gave an embarrassed laugh.

“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. It’s just you were taking so long to wake up, I was getting worried,” Wind said.

“Oh, it’s okay,” Red said running his hand through his hair and wincing when he found a lump there.

“Sorry about him,” Hyrule said as he came over, “I kept telling him that it’s perfectly normal to sleep this much when you’ve got a concussion but he’s been hovering over you all afternoon anyways. Uh, sorry if we were being too loud.”

“Loud?” Red asked.

“Yeah, you told us to be quiet a moment ago,” Legend said from his place by the fire, “Are you feeling alright Four?”

“Yes, but why do you keep calling me Four?” Red asked.

Red could feel them staring and he turned to see all eight pairs of eyes trained on him.

“Are you fucking with us?” Legend asked.

“You don’t have amnesia, do you?” Wild asked nervously.

“No, I don’t …I …” Red said.

Then the fog inside his head cleared. Quiet. His head was too quiet. He was just Red right now, not Four. But they were still calling him Four. So where were….? The others must have seen the rising panic on his face because Hyrule reached out to comfort him only to have Red grab onto his shirt, the fabric balling up in his fists.

“Where are they?!” Red screamed.

“Whoa, Smithy, where are who?” Time asked, “We’re all here.”

“No, I don’t mean you,” Red cried, the tears already forming in the corners of his eyes, “I mean me. Where is the rest of ME?!”


	3. Chapter 3

“Let me get this straight,” Time said as he pinched the bridge of his nose, “the reason you call yourself Four is because you can literally split yourself into four people?”

Red nodded, his lip still quivering. It had taken a while for them to calm him down enough to get the whole story out of him and he still looked like he was about to burst into tears at any moment. 

“And it was the spell that forced you apart… did you know that was possible?” Time asked.

“No, I though only the Four sword could split us apart,” Red said.

“Okay…okay. Everyone pack up. Apparently, we have three more teammates to go save. Pup, maybe Wolfie could scout ahead and find their trail?” Time said.

Twilight nodded and quickly vanished into the woods. The rest of the Links set about packing up their campsite. Red, however remained motionless, sitting on the ground. Sky awkwardly sat down beside him and threw an arm around him.

“Hey, it’s going to be alright. I’m sure we’ll find them,” Sky said.

“Yeah…” Red replied.

“On your adventure were you ever separated like this before?” Sky asked.

“Yeah… once,” Red said.

“Well that must have turned out alright, right? You found each other again?” Sky asked.

“Eventually… but before we found each other I got accused of arson, Blue was frozen solid, Green almost died in a pyramid and Vio turned to the dark side,” Red replied.

“What?” Sky said.

“I mean… he was faking it, but he was living with Shadow for a while there,” Red continued.

“Uh… lets get packed up so we can go find the rest of you,” Sky said, “I’m very excited to meet them.”

Even over the shouts and howls of the monster camp Vio could swear that he could Blue’s grumbling. He couldn’t blame him really, these cages seemed designed to keep them as uncomfortable as possible. To sit down you had to basically curl into a fetal position which caused his back and legs to ache. Standing, however, wasn’t much better as the cages wouldn’t allow them to straighten completely upright. Not to mention the slightest movement caused the cages to swing erratically. Vio couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so exhausted, but sleep was clearly out of the question.

Vio turned to his left and peered into Green’s cage. He still wasn’t showing any signs of stirring and one of his arms hung limply out of the cage. Vio’s only comfort was the gentle rise and fall of his chest.

Then, a stirring of movement at the edge of the clear caught Vio’s attention. Turning slowly, the swinging of the cage sending waves of nausea through his empty stomach, Vio focused his attention on the bushes and what he saw sent his spirits soaring. Poking through the leaves was the familiar, furry head of Wolfie.

“Blue,” Vio hissed.

Blue turned and Vio swore his face looked a little green as he waited for the cage’s movement to stop. Then, as his eyes followed Vio’s pointing hand, Vio saw Blue’s eyes widen in recognition. Wolfie looked up at them, met their eyes, and slid back into the bushed and into the forest. Vio and Blue looked at each other and immediately knew what the other was thinking. Their troubles were far from over, but now they had a reason to hope.

The Link’s made their way through the woods, following Twilight’s form through the gloom. They all moved as quietly as possible, not even stopping to question why Twilight knew that Wolfie had not only found the rest of the Colors but that they were being guarded by party of monsters as well. It wasn’t long before they could see the light of the bonfire filtering through the trees. Each of the Links felt their hearts drop as the full scene came into view.

In the center of the clearing was a massive bonfire with an equally massive cooking pot sitting on top of it. The hoard of monsters danced around the pot and were throwing ingredients into the pot at random. The result was a truly nauseating smelling smoke that was billowing into the air and assaulting the surrounding area. Above the pot, dancing through the smoke, was the Poe. Hanging from the trees at the edge of the clearing were three small cages, through the bars of which they could see three blonde heads of hair. Quickly, the Links settled into a semicircle.

“So, what’s the plan here?” Legend asked.

“Blue, Vio and Green’s safety is our top priority. We need to get them out before we try anything else,” Time said.

“The monsters are pretty distracted, maybe I can climb up and get them without them noticing?” Wild suggested.

“It won’t be that easy, I can sense dark magic coming from those cages,” Hyrule said.

“Then take the master sword. She should be able to take care of anything you run into,” Sky said, already unslinging the sword.

“What about the Poe? Won’t it know when its spell is broken?” Warriors asked.

“Maybe we should cause a distraction first? Try and draw it and some of the monsters away from camp?” Legend suggested.

“Good call,” Time said, “Legend, Warriors and Twilight go and cause that distraction. I don’t care what it is, just make it good. Sky, Hyrule, Wind and Red, you stay with me. We need to be ready to pick off any monsters that go after Wild and the Colors. Now let’s move.”

Wild shimmied up the tree until he was on the branch that held the first of the cages. He couldn’t deny that it was reassuring to have the Master Sword on his back once more. He understood Sky’s attachment to it, he had forged it after all, but Wild still missed its strength sometimes. Patiently, He waited at the base of the branch for the distraction to start.

As he waited, he sensed someone was watching him. Wild looked down and saw a small face peeking through the bars. He marveled for a moment, the face looked exactly like Fours, if just slightly smaller. He was also wearing a blue tunic instead of Four’s multicolored one. Wild gave a small wave and Blue gave a tight smile in return. Wild then noticed that his face seemed abnormally pale a small wave of worry washed over him. This might not be as easy as he had hoped if the three of them weren’t feeling well.

Finally, a massive explosion occurred, and a billowing cloud of smoke could be seen to the west of the camp. Wild grinned as the entire camp looked up and started running towards the explosion. His heart almost stopped for a moment as the Poe turned, seemingly screeched an order at the few remaining monsters, and then flew off into the woods. He supposed it was too much to hope for, for all of them to leave.

Wild crawled out onto the branch and then, hanging onto the branch by his knees, swung upside down to examine the cage.

“There’s no door,” Blue whispered, “We don’t know how to get out.”

“Let’s hope this works then,” Wild said as he unsheathed the Master Sword.

Not really sure how the Master Swords magic would work against the cage, and not wanting to hurt Blue, Wild lightly tapped the edge of the sword against the bars of the cage. Almost immediately the cage began to dissolve. Panic in his eyes, Blue lunged for Wild and Wild grabbed ahold of his arm just as the bottom of the cage dissolved. Now they were both hanging in the air.

“Now what?!” Blue hissed.

“I’ve got an idea,” Wild whispered.

Wild waved frantically at Time until Time, hesitantly stepped forward.

“Cover your mouth,” Wild said.

“What?” Blue asked.

“Just do it,” Wild insisted.

With a confused expression Blue used his free hand to cover his mouth. His expression of confusion soon turned to terror as Wild let go of his arm.

Time raced the last few steps forward just in time to catch Blue as he plummeted to the group. Nervously he looked towards the remaining monsters, but they were still staring forlornly at the smoke in the distance, oblivious to what was happening behind them. Gently, Time place Blue on the ground and Red darted out and led him back into the woods. Time looked up to see that Wild was already heading for the second cage. Figuring they were about to repeat this experience, Time sighed inwardly to himself and remained where he was.

Heading for the second cage Wild noticed that Vio was already standing and ready for him. As he swung himself upside down once more, Wild beamed at him, proud his plan was working.

“Can I grab you before you dissolve the cage?” Vio asked.

“Hm? Oh, good call,” Wild said as he offered Vio his other arm.

As Vio’s grip tightened around his forearm Wild tapped the cage again and easily swung Vio out of the cage as it dissolved into nothingness.

“Wild,” Vio whispered.

“What? Something wrong?” Wild asked.

“It’s Green. He’s still unconscious. I don’t think you should drop him. Is there another way you can get him down?” Vio asked.

Wild thought for a moment as then grinned once more.

“I’ve got an idea, don’t worry,” Wild said.

Vio gave Wild a last concerned look before letting go of Wild’s arm and dropping into Time’s arms. Wild continued to the last cage, getting as close as he could before peering inside. He felt a wave of worry pass over him as he looked at Green’s still form and the smear of blood that ran down the left side of this face. Reaching inside the cage, Wild made sure he had a firm grip on Green’s arm before dissolving the surrounding cage. As they both swung free, Wild sheathed the Master Sword and gathered Green up into his chest. Then, he released his grip on the tree branch and plummeted towards the ground. Just as they were about to hit, Wild brought out his paraglider and drifted to the ground. Wild turned to Time, expecting him to be impressed, but Time just pointed behind Wild. Wild turned to see the remaining monsters staring directly at them.

“Get going,” Time said as he unsheathed his blade, “Sky you’re with me. Hyrule and Wind go with Wild and the Colors and get to safety.”

Wild handed off the Master Sword to Sky as he ran by and into the woods.

It took awhile for them to find a place they deemed safe. Wild suspected the cave they had found was an old wolf’s den, but it didn’t look like anything had lived there in a while. They had eaten a light meal of cold rations after Hyrule had worked his magic on Green and declared him stable. Wild had wanted to cook but he didn’t dare light a fire with so many monsters still in the woods. Plus, Blue and Vio had insisted their stomachs were still upset after their ordeal. After eating, the Colors had snuggled in around Green and quickly fallen asleep. Wind had joined them soon after. So, it was up to Wild and Hyrule to keep watch.

Time and Sky found them first, keeping quiet after Wild gestured to sleep pile. Legend, Twilight and Warriors followed a few hours later.

“Are they okay?” Warriors whispered.

“They’ll be alright,” Hyrule said, “They just need some rest.”

Green awoke to the sensation of something heavy resting on his chest. He sat partially up, groaning slightly at the pounding sensation in his head, to find that Red had curled up next to him and was using his chest as a pillow. But Greens movement was enough to wake him up and Red sat up groggily.

“Wha…Green? Green!” Red whispered excitedly.

Red quickly moved around, shaking the other sleeping forms that surrounded Green and Green soon found himself looking into the faces of his equally concerned and excited brothers.

“Green, thank goodness. I thought you might never wake up,” Vio said.

“Yeah right, I knew he was going to wake up soon,” Blue said.

“Sure, Blue, sure,” Red teased.

“What happened?” Green asked.

“That Poe that Wind was yelling about. It forced us to split with its magic. And then it caught all of us, except Red,” Vio explained.

“We think you hit your head when we split. You were out cold the whole time,” Blue said.

“But it’s okay now! I brought everyone to rescue you guys,” Red finished.

Green took a moment, processing everything he had heard, and then sat up a little straighter. He could see the sleeping forms of the other Links in the cave, each wrapped in their blankets and bedrolls. He could also see the form of Time, just outside the cave keeping watch. He wasn’t sure if he hadn’t noticed they were awake or if he was just trying to give them their privacy, but his back was still to them.

“So… they all know now?” Green asked.

“The basics. We had to hurry to find you, so I didn’t have time to tell them everything,” Red said.

“Do you want to fuse back together?” Vio asked.

“…No. There’s no going back now that they know. We might as introduce ourselves properly,” Green sighed, “But let’s wait till morning. I’m still tired.”

Murmurs came from the rest of the Colors as they all snuggled back into the bedroll. Things were certainly going to be different now that their secret was out, but at least they were together again.


End file.
